Cedar Valley Nature Trail & Cedar Lake Loop

For a longer off-road run in Cedar Rapids, choose a section of the 70-mile Cedar Valley Nature Trail! This paved mutli-use path heads north from Cedar Rapids as far as Evansdale and south to Ely. There are mile markers along the way. We’ve divided our description into two sections. TRAIL INFO    TRAIL MAP

Downtown Area South to Ely. The Cedar Rapids section of the trail is ~6 miles, between Cedar Lake north of downtown, south to Tait Cummins Memorial Park. It overlaps with our Cedar River Trail route for several miles. There’s a nice section along Cedar Lake, then a not as nice section crossing I-380. Then the trail is pleasant along the east bank of the Cedar River, through Czech Village, and then a more natural section to Tait Cummins Park. From there, it’s another ~5 miles to the southern terminus at Ely.

• Option: Cedar Lake Loop: The full Cedar Lake Loop is a 1.6 mile paved trail, including a very scenic bridge over the southern section of the lake. (MAP)

North of Downtown. North of Cedar Lake, the trail travels for 58 miles to Evansdale, passing through Hiawatha, Center Point, Brandon, La Porte City, and Gilbertsville. The trail mainly follows the floodplain of the Cedar River through forested areas, wetlands, and rolling farmlands, with tree tunnels punctuated by open vistas.